Eulogy
by Sci F.I. Warper
Summary: My farewell to Enterprise. The crew speaks at Trip's funeral. I do not agree with the writers ending, but if I have to I'll say goodbye to a good man R


Disclaimer: I do not own anything Enterprise

Author Note: I hated that Trip died, just to make this clear. If he had to go out, it should (as the klingons would say) be a more honorable death. I wrote this to at least give Trip a good farewell. NO FLAMES PLEASE!

* * *

Archer stood firmly facing the rest of the crew. Every familiar...every eternally remembered face looked up at him. Their grim expressions were nothing compared to the pain in their eyes. They had come to respect the dead. In front of them, in a closed coffin, lay the remains of one of their charished own. 

Hand shaking, Archer grabbed the handrail and began, " Commander Tucker, Trip was a lot of things. A brilliant engineer, a dedicated officer, a good friend. He understood Enterprise. Not just the ship, but her people as well. We entrusted our lives to him on more than one occasion, and he never failed us."

Archer felt the tears pressing in, but he held them back.

" Words are just not enough to describe what kind of man he was. Goodbye Commander Tucker...Goodbye Trip. We will never forget you."

Archer stepped back and looked at the rest of the senior crew.

" T'Pol"

The Vulcan looked at Archer. As she walked past, she seemed as though she was struggling.

" As the Captain has told you," she began, " Commander Tucker was many things. Above all he was the most illogical human I have ever met," a slight ripple fell through the room, " However, it was this that made him who he was. Commander Tucker carried something...Humans would call it a willful spirit, a sense of adventure. He carried himself with a loyalty and a true grit...a true conscience that could not be stopped. He was the one who truly brought the good out of a situation. Despitethe stakes against him, no matter the pain it caused him,no matter how grim the results Trip would be there. He would let nothing stop him, if it helped someone else.I...I will miss you, Trip."

Stepping back, unable to continue,she whispered, " Doctor."

Phlox stepped forward and patted T'Pol's shoulders. She did not flinch away.

" Like T'Pol, there is not much else I can say about the commander. If anything, he was one of the rare, few men I know who could get himself in a puzzling medical fix. I'm sure we all remember the incidents at the very beginning of are mission. Our first pregnancy," a few of the engineering crewmembers smiled weakly,"Despite his bad luck, though, the Commander was ever the optomist. He passed that on to all of us. He kept us, and this ship going. He pulled us together when it really counted. If there was one way to describe Commander Tucker it would be that he was an honorable man. I, too, will miss him."

Phlox steeped aside and gave the stage to Malcolm.

" Trip was the first friend I truly ever had," said Reed, " Which is amusing since started off from comepletely different worlds. I remember long ago at the beginning of our mission that he said superman comic books were covered in subtext, " Malcolm paused to collect himself.

" The thing about Trip, " he continued, "Was that he could make friends...everywhere.As he would have called it, his southern charm worked its way into people. T'Pol," he looked back at her, " And I are perfect witnesses,"He touched all our lives by merely being there when we need him. Trip could find the good in people, even when he wasn't looking for it. He was our friend," Malcolm looked back at the rest of the crew, " We shared his pain and his loses as he shared ours.I know if Tripwas here he would have told us to go on withour lives. That we cna comfort each other, and that we would pull through. But he would be wrong. We can never go back to the way things are. We have lost someone truly important to us. Things can never be the same," Malcolm felt the tears flow, " But at least we can try. May your journey be well, Trip. Safe voyage, my friend."

Archer nodded. With a heavy heart Hoshi and Mayweather pressed the button together. The torpedo holding Trip's remains jettisoned across the cosmos.

* * *

T' Pol stared her face firm, but her heart breaking. If humans were right and time healed all wounds, then why didn't she feel better. 

_Perhaps it is and illogical statement_, T'Pol tried to convince herself. Yet she knew the truth. She had lost, and was lossing everything dear to her. He mother, her daughter, the crew, and most importantly Trip.

_You promised not to leave me,_T'Pol screamed lossing her control,_ Yous said we would never lose contact._

Deep down, T'Pol felt something. It was the strangest emotion she had ever encountered. She couldn't describe it, but it seemed to ease her sorrow. Walking over to a window, she looked into the depths of space. Somewhere, she felt, Trip was smiling down on her and a small ship called the Enterprise.


End file.
